When you decide to get a divorce, trying to divide everything up can feel overwhelming, especially if you aren’t really sure what you need to do. For this reason, it is always a good idea to have a skilled mediator to help you through the process.
However, to get started, you are going to need to know about the most common issues that you will need to talk about during your divorce (and through the whole mediation process). These include:
Dividing up your property. Not only will you need to decide who keeps the house and everything in it, you also need to look at your finances. You are going to have to divide up your savings accounts, retirement funds, and much more.
Discuss child custody and visitation. Child custody can be the hardest part of a divorce. Most people don’t want to lose their children. They want them all of the time, even if it isn’t feasible. However, you need to really think about what your children want and need before you decide custody and visitation.
Come up with a good plan for child support. If you aren’t going to be the one who has your children most of the time, you are going to need to help support them. They are your children, and they deserve to live the same way that they did prior to your divorce.
See if you or your spouse is eligible for alimony or spousal support. Alimony and spousal support are often considered the same thing. It is money given to your spouse after your divorce to help him or her get back on his or her feet.
If you have worked so that your spouse could stay home with the children, he or she is still going to need help to continue to do so if you wish. If your spouse was in college and you supported him or her during your marriage, you should consider doing the same afterward. He or she deserves to get the degree that he or she was working so hard for prior to your divorce.
Though you may only think about dividing up your home and splitting up your children, there is a lot of other things that you need to think about during a divorce. You are going to have to split up all of your bank accounts (including your retirement funds). You may also have to consider child or spousal support, depending on your situation.
Contact us to help you through this difficult time.